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Yesterday we urged readers to contact their representatives and make their views on immigration issues known. Some recent writings highlight the need for educating members of Congress and others about the complexities in the field of immigration. In an article about the H-1B debate by Prof. Norman Matloff which appeared in the September 12, 2000, issue of the Washington Post Prof. Matloff quotes attorney Joel Stewart as writing, "(e)mployers who favor aliens have an arsenal of legal means to reject all U.S. workers who apply."
The quote is apparently taken from an article on this web site titled
"Legal Rejection of US Workers." Mr. Stewart's article deals solely with the issue of rejection of US workers in the permanent labor certification process. Labor certification, which is highly legalistic, arcane and completely divorced from reality, is a step towards permanent resident status. Mr. Stewart's article has nothing to do with the H-1B classification which is a temporary, nonimmigrant category. If those who are taking the lead and raising their voices the loudest in the H-1B debate are confused on the issues, imagine how much more so members of Congress, for whom immigration is only of many issues, must be. By providing information and encouraging discussion we hope to be part of the education effort.

Mess at the Justice Department
A recent Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General's report highlights misconduct in two
components of DOJ's Criminal Division--The International Criminal Investigative Training
Assistance Program (ICITAP) and the Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and
Training (OPDAT)--including the possible improper issuance of visas.

President Approved H.R. 4489
An announcement in the Congressional Record stated that the President had signed
H.R. 4489, an act to amend section 110 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act of 1996, on June 15, 2000.

INS Detainees Surge in US
According to the Miami Herald as a result of IIRIRA more than 20,000 aliens are held on an average day in hundreds of facilities nationwide, making the INS one of the largest detention systems in the country. The cost to taxpayers is more than $600 million a year.

Immigrant Women and Abuse
NPR's All Things Considered reports on domestic violence faced by immigrant women whose husbands control their wives immigration status in the US, and provides an audio link to interviews with women who are working their way out of violent relationships as well as information on the social agencies of "Sakhi" and "Nav Nirmaan."

Chat with Stephen Berman, Esq.
Attorney Stephen Berman will answer questions on all aspects of immigration law Thursday,
September 14, 2000, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (New York) time. Questions will be accepted beginning
15 minutes prior to the start of the chat session.

Mr. Matloff's article attempts to make a very simple deception: The H-1B program is misused by US employers
who want to use cheap labor instead of more demanding US workers. The writer dismisses the safeguards that have
been built into the H-1B law (the labor condition application). He says simply "The law requiring that H-1Bs be
paid 'prevailing wage' is "riddled with loopholes," nor does he identify the loopholes. In fact, it is clear that
he does not understand the prevailing wage regulations. For example, he criticizes an H-1B wage of $35,000 per
year as being under the "national average for new computer science graduates," but the labor condition application
is not built on the national average of wages -- it is built on the prevailing wage in a defined geographical area.
More…

I was flattered to see my name in a publication so distinguished as the Washington Post, but surprised to see myself misquoted. I have never written an article or opinion about the H-1B program nor have I advocated that employers pay foreign workers less than US workers as implied in the Washington Post. On the contrary, all US Employers must pay aliens the prevailing wage as calculated by the US Department of Labor. Recent decisions have drawn these wage distinctions very strictly in favor of US workers and no deviations are permitted. The statement that American employers are inundated with applicants and resumes for high-tech jobs is patently untrue, and the characterization of H-1B workers as "indentured servants" from India, "underpaid" and "trapped" with their US employers, is fanciful hyperbole.